CHAPTER 126: CHAPTER 126: APOCALYPSE, I AM NOT THE HOLY MOTHER 32

As Li Man got closer and closer, Lin Shuangshuang instinctively felt a sense of vigilance rising. She unconsciously wanted to tighten her grip on Qingque’s hand, but she forcefully restrained this instinct and calmly watched Li Man approach.

Li Man’s observation skills were extremely keen; she could analyze the information she needed from minute facial expressions and body language. Lin Shuangshuang had to remain calm and give Li Man no opportunity to observe her true emotions.

Lin Shuangshuang was very thankful for her increasingly expressionless face after her rebirth, because maintaining a poker face was the easiest way to go unnoticed!

This enemy was unprecedentedly strong. Just like in her past life, Lin Shuangshuang never knew why Li Man schemed against her so much. Now that they were reunited after her rebirth, even though she knew Li Man’s presence wasn’t well-intentioned, she still couldn’t figure out Li Man’s schemes.

She was never a person skilled at scheming; all she could do now was be on guard and be even more on guard! For a moment, Lin Shuangshuang felt disheartened, but she quickly shook off this feeling from her mind.

No matter what, heaven had given her the chance to be reborn and see Li Man’s true nature. If she still ended up schemed against by Li Man, she might as well just bash her head in and be done with it! No matter how Li Man schemed, she couldn’t believe that even under her full vigilance, Li Man could succeed!

Just as Lin Shuangshuang was steeling her resolve, Li Man was already holding hands with Mi Lu, wearing a bright and cheerful smile as she greeted Lin Shuangshuang, "Hello, Sister Shuangshuang!"

Lin Shuangshuang looked at the youthful and beautiful Li Man in front of her and replied with a faint "hmm" from her nose. She was once again thankful for her antisocial personality after rebirth; not speaking wouldn’t seem odd now.

If she had to make small talk with Li Man, Lin Shuangshuang feared she might unwittingly give away information. Facing this woman, the less she said, the fewer mistakes she could make. But saying nothing was also not an option, as that would be too suspicious. Being as taciturn as possible was the safest bet!

Li Man tilted her head and showed a helpless smile, "Oh, Sister Shuangshuang, with your cold manner, I really don’t know how to start a conversation with you. It’s so awkward!"

Lin Shuangshuang, suppressing the annoyance in her heart, slightly turned her head to look at Li Man, her tone calm, "What do you want to talk about?"

Li Man released Mi Lu’s hand, placing it on her shoulder, then slightly leaned toward Lin Shuangshuang and playfully blinked, saying, "I’ve heard that women’s friendships start from sharing little secrets. Why not talk about Sister Shuangshuang’s love life? I’m really curious about how you, with your personality, fall in love with a boyfriend! It’s hard to imagine!"

This time, Lin Shuangshuang hadn’t spoken yet when Mi Lu, supported by Li Man, burst into laughter and interjected, "You really can’t imagine it, because our Sister Shuangshuang has never been in love, and her emotional intelligence is particularly low! When someone confessed to her, she completely didn’t get it!"

"Ah!" Li Man immediately showed interest, "Hurry, tell me more!"

Mi Lu coughed and lowered her voice, "You don’t know this, but Sister Shuangshuang and I have been classmates since high school. I remember back in sophomore year, a classmate really liked her and constantly brought problems for her to solve. But Sister Shuangshuang just gave them a reading list, saying that if they read it all, they’d surely ace every exam!"

Saying this, Mi Lu couldn’t help but laugh heartily. To this day, she still felt sorry for that classmate’s constipated face. After laughing, Mi Lu continued gossiping with Li Man about Lin Shuangshuang’s low emotional intelligence.

"In senior year, something even funnier happened. The heartthrob of our class secretly had a crush on Sister Shuangshuang and sent her a huge bouquet of ninety-nine roses. The scene was incredibly romantic; all our classmates were envious."

"Coincidentally, the day before he sent the flowers, Sister Shuangshuang and I were talking about how delicious rose jam was. So, Sister Shuangshuang thought that heartthrob overheard and was also craving rose jam, and she turned all the roses into rose jam to give back to him."

They couldn’t help but laugh several times more before continuing, "The most incredible part is that Sister Shuangshuang even told him she kept half of the rose jam as a fee but said he’d be welcome to come back for more if he liked it! Hahaha! Thinking about that classmate’s face at the time still makes me laugh!"

Li Man laughed wildly along with Mi Lu, and Lin Shuangshuang felt a bit awkward. She indeed had been somewhat of a bookworm back then. If it were now, she’d clearly see those boys’ intentions in an instant. But at that time, she honestly had no clue!

Li Man, still chuckling, said to Lin Shuangshuang, "Sister Shuangshuang, if you don’t improve your emotional intelligence, you’re on track to become a perpetual single—Sister Shuangshuang, do you want me to share some tips on how to attract handsome guys and boost your emotional intelligence?"

Jokingly, Li Man bantered with Lin Shuangshuang as she moved a few steps closer, but instead of getting close to Lin Shuangshuang, she leaned closer to Red Jade, more precisely, to the area of Red Jade’s belly.

Just as Li Man was about to reach out to touch Red Jade, Red Jade suddenly stood up and hid behind Lin Shuangshuang, instantly widening the distance from Li Man.

Red Jade’s reaction was a bit extreme, causing Lin Shuangshuang to look at the Red Jade hiding behind her in bewilderment, then looked back at Li Man.

Li Man had a slightly annoyed expression on her face as she complained dejectedly to Lin Shuangshuang, "Honestly, Sister Shuangshuang’s pet is too unfriendly. I was just curious and wanted to touch such a big spider for the first time. I’m a beautiful woman; does it really need to avoid me like this?"

Li Man’s complaint wasn’t annoying; on the contrary, it seemed genuine and endearing, compelling Lin Shuangshuang to pat Red Jade’s head lightly and say blandly, "Maybe you fought with Red Jade earlier, so it’s resisting you a bit. It’ll be fine once it gets used to you."

Although she said this, Lin Shuangshuang was deeply puzzled in her heart. What exactly did Li Man come here for? Surely it wasn’t just to get close to Red Jade and touch it, right?

But it seemed Li Man was, in fact, just there for some idle chat with Lin Shuangshuang and incidentally intended to pet Red Jade. Since she didn’t get to touch it, she said goodbye to Lin Shuangshuang after a bit more chit-chat and dragged Mi Lu along to help Li Wenxuan prepare the barbecue!

After Li Man left, Lin Shuangshuang turned her head to examine Red Jade, looking it up and down for a long time. She couldn’t believe Li Man came over just to pet Red Jade. But what exactly was Li Man’s goal? Could it still be about Red Jade? Lin Shuangshuang almost burst out laughing at her own wild guess.

Red Jade was just a mutant spider; why would it be worth the risk for someone like Li Man, who never pursued anything without a benefit, to stay here and scheme over? The very sight of Li Man caused her to lose her composure and get overly nervous, spinning tales in her head!

Rethinking Li Man’s intentions, Lin Shuangshuang’s gaze unconsciously fell on the area of Red Jade’s belly, which Li Man nearly touched. Looking at that spot, Lin Shuangshuang’s heart quickened, and a terrifying possibility suddenly sprang into her mind! She thought that maybe she finally understood what Li Man was scheming!